voestalpine talk: An interview with Joachim Lemppenau, Chairman of the Supervisory Board

voestalpine is launching yet another program as part of its video and moving image communication offerings. Starting immediately, the voestalpine talk program will broadcast 15-minute on-camera conversations with important members of the voestalpine Group in order to shine some light on decisions, background information, and contexts.

Aside from the moderator, Gerald Groß, we also succeeded in recruiting the Chairman of voestalpine’s Supervisory Board, Joachim Lemppenau, for the first interview. It was recorded in late November at voestalpine Stahlwelt.

voestalpine talk—an interview series moderated by Gerald Groß

“When the Management Board is good, the Supervisory Board is idle. When the Management Board is bad, the Supervisory Board is helpless!”

Is this statement accurate? The very first voestalpine talk will give you some insight into the work of the Supervisory Board. You will hear about the backdrop to important decisions such as the acquisition of BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM, events such as the financial and economic crisis following the Lehman bankruptcy, and what criteria are used in the nomination of a new CEO.

"The Supervisory Board on the whole must be able to tell whether the company’s corporate bodies are functioning reasonably well."Joachim Lemppenau

About the individuals

Joachim Lemppenau

Joachim Lemppenau (76) studied law in Tübingen, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland, before joining Mannesmann AG Hüttenwerke in 1973. In 1994, Lemppenau switched to the management board of Volksfürsorge Versicherungsgruppe (an insurance group) and served as its chairman from 1998 to 2006. In 1999, Joachim Lemppenau was appointed to the Supervisory Board of the voestalpine Group, and he has served as its chairman since 2004.

Gerald Groß

Gerald Groß hails from the Burgenland, Austria’s easternmost state, and has more than 30 years of experience in print, radio, and TV as a reporter, news manager, managing editor, editor in chief, and journalist.
Many of us know the 54-year old from his work as the moderator of ZIB 1, an Austrian news broadcast. In 2011, Groß left the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) to launch a career as a freelance media coach.